Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Missionary life and its ups and downs

March 31, 2014

Hola,

This week was a little hard, and I was struggling a bit with
the language and with other things. On Wednesday night I knelt and prayed and
asked Heavenly Father to help me. The
very next day on Thursday we had a multi-zone conference. The
Mission President came and spoke and said everything I needed to hear at that
time. Time and time again I am reminded
that Heavenly Father is looking out for me and hears and answers my
prayers.

Yesterday was another amazing Sunday. The Familia S. (investigadores) came to
church. The Familia C. came to church
again. Hermana M came to church. And Hermana J who hasn’t been coming to
church the past couple of Sundays, also came yesterday. To see all of these people made me so
happy! It was fast and testimony meeting
and I love hearing all the testimonies of the people here. They are so amazing.

Also, the weather is absolutely LOCO. Within five minutes it
could be raining, and then sunny, and then super windy and cold, and then back
to sunny and hot. It is so unpredictable
I don’t even know what it is going to be next.
Gotta love Bolivia!

I am so grateful to be here serving these people and
learning so much. Thanks for all your
support.

I feel so much happiness.
The start of the week was a little rough, but I just decided to keep
pressing forward and I can say that our hard work has paid off. Recently we´ve been teaching this family;
Familia C., the parents are inactive and the kids aren’t members and we´ve
committed their 2 kids to be baptized We have a date for them the 12th of April. Yesterday the whole family came to church and
I was so happy I thought I was going to burst.
Also Hermana M came back. She´s
this little angel that is a golden investigador, but she was moving and now we
found out that she´s actually staying. I’m so excited that we can teach her and
get her ready for her baptism next month as well.

ALSO we had this other investigador at Church
yesterday named M. A., and he is so interested in the church. He is so awesome
because he came to church all on his own.
And let me tell you, it is so hard to get investigadores to come to
church. Anyway, yesterday I was really
happy. Also we taught the Familia S.,
which is a family I just love so much and we´ve been teaching them for a really
long, and they finally decided to get married (because here almost no one gets
married) and now we´re working toward their wedding and baptism at the end of April. April is going to be our month! Time and time again Heavenly Father has
answered my prayers. At the beginning of
the week I was praying to be able to be happy because I was a little down, and
I realize that these people are what bring me joy and I am just so happy to
know these people. And there are some
members that we´ve been spending a lot of time with too, and I just love them
so much. My companion and I have been
getting along well and I’m starting to be more myself. Despite all the challenges, which are many,
focusing on these people and realizing that they are all Heavenly Father´s
children and being able to serve them, is the greatest joy.

This past week was cambios, but I wasn’t transferred, which
makes me so happy. I was not ready to
leave this area yet. I love the people here
so much. Even though I didn’t get
transfered, I got a calling to be a Hermana Capacitadora, which is kind of like
a leader over the girls, and I think it means that I have to train a newbie in
the future. But anyway, my companion
stayed too, and the other hermanas as well, which makes me really happy because
we´ve all had been getting along great and I just love them.

As my Spanish is getting better I’m able to
be sassier and joke with them a bit more, and with some of the members too, so
I’ve been laughing a lot this week with them.
Also I´ve been able to use my English skills to help two different families’
kids with their English homework. I feel
very special because I’m the only one in our area that speaks English. Also this Sunday we were able to have two
different inactive families come to church, so that made me really happy. My companion and I had to give talks, and
like what happened the last time I had to give a talk, when I looked into the
congregation and saw these people in the sacrament meeting, all my nervousness
went away.

Anyway, things have been going well, and I’ve been able to
feel the spirit a lot this week, especially in church yesterday. I know this church is true with all my heart,
and I’m so grateful for this opportunity to share the joy of the Gospel with
others